When you dig a deep financial hole, it can take a long time to climb out. In the case of Alameda, the journey has just begun, and there’s a long way before seeing daylight.

That’s why the city needs elected leaders who understand the problem and, we hope, have the perseverance to keep climbing. Accordingly, we endorse re-election of Marie Gilmore for mayor.

As for the two council seats on the Nov. 4 ballot, candidates Jim Oddie and Frank Matarrese best understand the complexities of the city’s unfunded liabilities.

Here’s how deep the hole is: The pension and retiree health plans for city employees are $273 million underfunded. That’s equal to more than 5 1/2 years of base salary for city employees. The city is not making even minimum payments on the debt for retiree health benefits, which are exceptionally generous for public safety workers.

To be sure, employees have pitched in with solid contributions to their pension plans. And the city has cut roughly 20 percent of its staff in the past five years. Yet, the city faces a projected $3.8 million annual budget deficit staring next summer.

More cuts will be needed. Gilmore, Oddie and Matarrese understand the magnitude of the problem. That’s a start.

The kingdom, which announced the change on Tuesday, was the only the country in the world to bar women from driving and for years had garnered negative publicity internationally for detaining women who defied the ban.

Last year’s was the first presidential election in which the state’s new voter ID law was in effect. Given the close margin, and given that such laws tend to disenfranchise voters who tend to prefer Democratic candidates more heavily, questions have been raised about the extent to which the new restrictions might have helped Trump’s victory.

Facing assured defeat, Republican leaders decided Tuesday not to even hold a vote on the GOP’s latest attempt to repeal the Obama health care law, surrendering on their last-gasp effort to deliver on the party’s banner campaign promise.